Goshen Republican Town Committee hosts annual pig roast

RICKY CAMPBELL/ Register Citizen
The Goshen Republican Town Committee hosted its annual pig roast to celebrate all things GOP. State candidates discussed their platforms and a unanimous decision was made: the group of Republicans don't like President Barack Obama.

GOSHEN >> Thirty-eight days before the Nov. 6 election, members of Goshen's Republican Party believe they can catapult the ideals of the town of 2,500 onto the state and national stage through the democratic process.

Goshen Republican Town Committee Chairman John Morris said, "What [Washington] D.C. needs is a big, fat taste of Goshen," through the election of hometown 5th District candidate Andrew Roraback. But before the rest of the country has an opportunity to munch on Goshen homegrown, supporters of the town's GOP had their opportunity to feast on pig.

The annual fundraising pig roast, held by the Republican town committee, rallied the party's state candidates and their supporters Saturday night at the First Congregational Church. In front of a giant American flag banner, spanning the length of the church kitchen's windows, with red and blue plastic plates and patriotic decorations, the Goshen Republicans dined. And they discussed politics, too.

"Elizabeth Esty will be the East Coast version of Nancy Pelosi," Roraback's campaign manager, Steven Basserman said. Basserman received some muffled applause from the comment, before leaving to applauds, handing the microphone over to Roraback-endorsed state Senate candidate Clark Chapin.

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Some referred to election day as "D-Day" and "one of the most important election cycles of our lifetime," placing unemployment rates, the national debt, rising gas prices and dead ambassadors as the blame of Democratic President Barack Obama, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the left's control of Hartford. The largest tax increase in Connecticut history, Morris said, means "it's time to tell the folks in Hartford that we want no more tax increases."

Seeking to dethrone Democratic incumbent and neighbor State Rep. Roberta Willis (D-64), Vivian Nasiatka was the only candidate to make a promise upon possible election, while Chapin and 63rd district candidate Jay Case stuck to vague party rhetoric. Nasiatka defined her platform by saying, "I will not vote for any tax increases, period," adding later that, "I will make sure we have a balanced budget."

Nasiatka also threw the fear of "widespread voter fraud" into the hearts of Goshen Republicans by discussing Willis' vote and the state's approval of same-day voter registration, set to take ground in two years.

Case thanked opponent Michael Renzullo for printing out thousands of flyers asking voters to vote 'Row A' on their ballots -- referring to the Republican's legal victory over Secretary of State Denise Merrill's attempt to put Democrats at the top of the ballots. The state court ruled unanimously in favor of the GOP, and as a result, Renzullo's fliers technically asking constituents to vote for his opponent in Case.

Case, in his sixth day of a marriage, said he has spent his honeymoon knocking on doors, telling voters that change needs to come from the top, down; adding that their votes matter.

"Washington need to learn to live within its means," Case said. "When Washington learns to live within its means, Hartford can learn to live within its means."

Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Jerry Labriola, Jr., who made the trip from Essex, spoke with energy behind the echoing microphone. "We are energized and we are unified as a party," he said.

Labriola said he was "very, very confident" in the upcoming elections -- from Linda McMahon's run to the U.S. Senate seat, all the way down to Case and Nasiatka's races.